In the manufacture of many electronic apparatus it is conventional to employ elongated terminal pins formed with insertion ends which are inserted into through holes in a support structure to establish electrical connections with circuit traces of a printed circuit board or with female terminals of other electronic connection devices. It is important that the terminal pins maintain their structural integrity and positional relationship with the support structure in which they are inserted.
lt also is conventional, in electrical connectors of the character described above, that the terminal pins be press fit into the support structure. Various problems are encountered with such manufacturing techniques. For instance, the support structure or header of such electrical connectors are elongated, and the length of the connectors often is limited because the structure tends to expand longitudinally or bow when the pressure fitted terminals are inserted thereinto. This may destroy the mating fit of the connector with a mating connector, a printed circuit board or the like.
In addition, during assembly and handling, the positional relationship of the end-most terminal pins of an elongated multi-terminal connector often are displaced relative to the support structure, again destroying the mating fit with a mating part. Due to the miniaturization of electrical components, stabilization of the pins in the support structure can be relatively difficult to achieve.
This invention is directed to solving the above problems by providing improved means for retaining and stabilizing terminal pins in electrical connectors of the character described.